Chapter Fourteen: The Month Long Trip (2)
The next morning Naruto woke up with a groan, his eyes fluttering open at a slow pace. He took a deep breath, smiling softly to himself as he felt the weight on his chest. He looked down, seeing Haku covered in the blanket while she rested her head against his chest. His hand went down to her, gently running a finger lightly up and down her exposed arm. This got a reaction from the girl, making her smile in her sleep while she dreamed. Naruto looked over to the clock on the wall, seeing the time was 7:38am. He remembered everything that happened the night before, thinking of what he had done with Haku till the later hours of the night. He let out a content, soft sigh as he slowly got out of the bed, replacing himself with a pillow which Haku happily snuggled into.
He sat on the edge of the bed, stretching his sore limbs before a quite groan left his lips. He got up and off the mattress, leaving a smiling Haku to dream as he got into the bathroom and showered. He was still surprised by what had happened last night, though he didn't regret a single moment. In the end though, he hoped she would understand his situation with his plan. He didn't want to lose her, but at the same time he needed to get his clan going. After ten minutes of standing in the raining water over his head he turned it off, walking out and wrapping himself in a towel and going back into the room.
He smiled seeing Haku sitting on the bed, the blanket pooling around her and letting her tender C-Cup breasts be exposed to his gaze and his gaze alone. He went to her, sitting beside her as he pulled her in for a passionate kiss. The two let their lips loosen, their tongues exploring one another like they had done no more than a few hours earlier the night before. Soon enough the two parted, the need for air becoming more pressing the longer they kept their embrace.
"Good morning Haku." He whispered into her ear, pulling her in for a hug.
She smiled warmling, loving the sensation of his wet skin against her own delicate frame. "Good morning my love."
He pulled back, looking into her loving eyes before giving her a quick peck to the lips. He smiled seeing her eyes brighten up by even the tiniest touch of his. "Last night was amazing, my love. Though, we do need to talk about what we are doing going forward."
She nodded gently, letting her head rest against his shoulder as she gently stroked his arm up and down her bare back. "I am listening."
He chuckled, kissing her neck before he spoke. "Haku, you know I created my own clan. You told me so last night."
She nodded again, keeping her head on his shoulder. "Indeed I did."
Naruto blushed, trying to think of how to say what he needed to. He brought his forehead down to her shoulder, letting it rest as he tried to muster his thoughts to tell her. She could feel the unease, the worry on her beloved's mind. She giggled, pulling away and having him look her in the eyes when she brought her hand to his chin and tilted his head up.
"I am no fool, Naruto. I know what you're thinking."
"Y-you do?"
Haku nodded, keeping her smile to her lips as she spoke. "You worry I would leave because you plan on taking multiple wives, right?"
He wanted to bring his head down again, but she stopped him. She brought both her hands to his cheeks, cupping them and keeping him from looking away from her. "My love, I understand what is to come. And I welcome it. I gave my innocence to you, my heart is yours and only yours. You are a wonderful man, a man so full of ambition and charisma that it makes it hard to not want to stand beside you. You saved me and Zabuza from a life we didn't want to live, stopped us from doing more sinful things in the name of money. Naruto, you saved my life. And if I must share you with others, then so be it. Just as long as you promise me to always love me as you do now, I'll never leave your side."
The tears in Naruto's eyes were leaking down his cheeks, making Haku lean in and kiss his lips softly while she wiped away his tears with her thumbs. "H-Haku…I will always love you, that will never go away. It will only grow stronger."
She nodded, letting him pull her in for another hug as they just held each other in their arms, taking in the moment. She knew he would be leaving today, which upset her, but she also knew this would be the life she wanted to be a part of. She would be there for him, be it at home or on the battlefield.
After a while of embracing each other they pulled away, Haku leaving to shower and clean herself while Naruto started getting dressed. He had a lover, someone he can say he loved before he even planned on making his own clan. She was an important person to him, and would do anything to protect her.
Meanwhile Haku was showering, the hot water washing away the filth from the night before. The smile never left her lips, the sensation of Naruto's lips an echo that made her heart flutter. The water washed down, caressing her toned stomach. Unaware the life the two had created during their union the night before.
~~Mizukage Office, 8:20am~~
Naruto and Haku were giggling the entire time on their way to Mei's office, their hands interlocked while they talked about their future. Behind them Yuna was forced to watch as they would be leaving after this last meeting with the Mizukage. She was pist when she went to get Naruto, only to see him and Haku both leaving his room. Her brother held her close and kissed her before waving at her. She was seriously regretting the choice she made to ask him to take her on this trip.
Naruto opened the door to the office, seeing Mei, Zabuza, Ao, and a tied up, gagged, and bruised Jiraiya. Naruto raised an eyebrow while Haku was also confused. Yuna saw her uncle tied up, sighing as she felt the headache that was coming. "Please tell me he didn't."
Jiraiya tried to give a sweet, innocent smile but the gag prevented that. Mei smacked Jiraiya against the back of his head, making the Toad Sage yelp from the sudden stinging to the back of his skull. Naruto looked at Jiraiya, shaking his head before going to Mei.
"Alright, I am sorry for him, Mei. I promise you I thought he'd behave himself instead of embarrassing me."
Mei sighed, smiling at Naruto before pushing Jiraiya onto the floor. "All if forgiven on your part, Naruto. However, I have banned this pervert from going within a hundred yards of the hot springs of this village. He's lucky I didn't kill him. I was going to til he used your name."
Naruto eyed Jiraiya as he was slowly being untied by Yuna, who was giving him a death glare telling the Sanin she was going to tell Tsunade about this. After it was all said and done, Naruto smiled and gave Mei a hug.
"Thank you for having us, Mei. Sadly, I need to start heading out. I want to visit the Land of Lightning and see if I can get in to see the Hidden Cloud."
Mei nodded, going back to her desk and sighing as paperwork seemed to magically appear as soon as she sat down. "I understand Naruto, I wish you well on your travels. Especially if that old perv is staying with you."
The next thing that came out of Naruto's mouth shocked Jiriaya, and upset Yuna. "They are not coming with me on this trip anymore. I can't afford any sort of bad image for Chikyugakure since we are seeking friendly ties with all nations and their villages."
Naruto turned to Yuna, giving her an apologetic look. "I'm sorry Yuna, but I am not gambling my village's reputation because he is a peeping pervert. It's not a gamble I'm going to risk."
"But Naruto, that's not fair! I did nothing to make you want to make me go back!"
He frowned, taking a deep breath before letting it out. "It's nothing against you, Yuna. I want you to come, but Minato and Kushina both agreed to let you go with me as long as he was with you. I am -not- letting him come with me anymore after this. I am lucky that I knew Mei and her village already, or else this could have impacted Chikyugakure's image poorly."
Jiraiya, now having feelings in his legs after being tied up, stepped in for Yuna. "Listen, Naruto, I understand I may have overstepped the welcome you gave us, but I can promise you that it's not going to happen again."
He looked at the pervy sage, eyes narrowed as he showed his disappointment. "Just like you promised Tsunade, your wife, you were down peeping on women?"
That quickly shut Jiraiya down, not thoroughly disgusted with himself. He looked at Yuna, showing her a sorry look. He tried to make Naruto change his mind. She was pist, anger in her eyes as tears watered up. "Naruto, please! It's not fair!"
"Life isn't fair, Yuna."
She stopped balling her fists, looking up at him. He gave her the same look of disappointment. "You would think that someone like you, the daughter of the Hokage, would understand what I am doing. But since the beginning of this trip, for Shinigami's sake, since the end of the preliminaries in the tower you have been really clingy to me. I don't know why you are, but I don't like it. And now you're throwing a temper tantrum because I'm not letting you get your way? Yuna, that's not how a Shinobi should act."
That was a gut punch to both her pride and her heart, hearing him lecture her like that. She brought her arms together, crossing them against her chest as she sobbed out a response. "You…i'm sorry okay? I just…after seeing you dead after father brought you back to the tower…I am afraid that if you go and I'm not there, you won't come back. I just got you back again Naruto, I don't want to lose you."
This made the room grow silent. Jiraiya brought his hand to Yuna's shoulder, giving her some comfort as she let Naruto know why she wanted to be by his side. Or at least half the reason why. Mei looked at the girl, understanding her situation just a little bit. She saw Naruto die once, and the state of his body made her worry that the next time he would die he wouldn't be coming back. Ao simply looked away from the situation, choosing to stay out of it entirely. Zabuza was very understanding of Yuna's feelings, getting that same worry every time Haku left the village for a mission. Then there was Haku, who just held Naruto's arm the entire time. She too understood how Yuna felt, but at the same time trusted Naruto to always come back home. She believed that death was truly on his side.
After a minute of awkward silence Naruto let go of Haku, going to Yuna and pulling her in for a hug. The Namikaze girl wrapped her arms around him, holding her tightly as he held her back. He brought a hand to her head, rubbing her hair gently as he let her cry into his chest.
"Yuna, I promise you that I will always come back. There isn't a force alive that can stop my fate. No ninja, no Bijuu, no god. I will always come home, so you don't have to worry."
He let her hold him a bit longer before pulling away, looking at her and waiting for her to look at him back. She brought her tear stained eyes to his own, nodding softly. "Okay…I promise I understand. Just…I just worry Naruto."
"I know, I know. I understand, but for now I need you to go back with Jiraiya. Okay?"
She nodded, looking at Jiraiya with tired eyes before standing beside her. Naruto nodded, putting a hand on them but was stopped by Jiraiye. He shook his head, pushing his hand away kindly. "No, I don't think it is okay for us to use you to get back to Konoha. We will travel, use it as a training trip back home."
Naruto nodded, still giving him a look of hurt before watching them walk away and out of the office. He let out a sigh, moving to sit down on one of the chairs. "Having siblings sucks so much ass."
"Naruto!"
He looked up at Naruto, seeing a small tick mark growing on her forehead. "What?"
She sighed, shaking her head at him. "You're in the presence of the Mizukage. You should watch your language here!"
He chuckled, nodding before getting up again, looking at Mei. "Apologies Mizukage, I hope I did not offend you."
Mei chuckled back, waving her hand. "Nonsense Naruto, you of all people earned the right to speak so freely around me."
He smirked, moving back to Haku and holding her hand. This made Mei smirk, and just as quickly brought her hand up to stop Zabuza from getting his sword off his back. "Relax Zabuza, I am sure Haku is eager to tell you something. Isn't that right dear?"
At the mention of it Haku blushed, but nodded when she looked towards her father figure timidly. "Well…me and N-Naruto are officially together. We were talking about it last night and this morning. He is the only one I can ever see my future with, Zabuza. I-I hope you accept this, because I am not changing my mind."
Zabuza looked at her, the timidness she started off with now leaving Haku's face and revealing the determination behind each word she spoke. Their eyes kept at one another before he sighed, easing his hand from the handle of his blade before crossing his arms and looking away.
"Fine, if this is what you want Haku I won't stop you. Naruto." He turned his head to the boy, seeing him holding onto Haku again. "I trust you will take care of her."
Naruto smiled at the Demon of the Mist, nodding his head before speaking up. "I plan to, Zabuza. I trust her and will love her with everything I am."
The only response Naruto got was a huff before nodding his head, now looking down to Mei. "Did you have a hand in this love?"
Mei giggled, waving her hand dismissively. "I may or may not have encouraged her to act on her feelings. I'm glad I did, because now she will have a man to be with her at our wedding."
Naruto's smile got brighter, looking back and forth between the two before he could speak. "You two are engaged! That's wonderful Mei, Zabuza! I am more than honored to come to the ceremony! When will it be?"
Zabuza cleared his throat, looking slightly embarrassed. "It will be on October fifteenth. We will be holding the ceremony on a secluded cover off the western sea."
The genin nodded, holding Haku's hand tightly in his own. "I will be there, I won't miss it for the world. Though, if I may be so bold and offer something for the wedding?"
Both Mei and Zabuza looked at him, their eyebrows raised. Naruto smirked, going on with his train of thought. "Well, my village has some master craftsmen with metals, and several jewelers as well. I would like to offer my village's services in making your wedding bands. I promise you, in my honor, that they will be the best you could ever hope to buy."
Mei smiled at the request, looking at Zabuza who nodded before looking back to Naruto. "We would be honored, Naruto."
Naruto shook his head, the smile never leaving his cheeks. "Think nothing of it. Take it as a gesture of good fortune to you, and a show of encouragement from not just me, but all of Chikyugakure."
The engaged couple nodded, starting a long conversation with Naruto and Haku about the wedding after Ao left the room to attend to a few things. When they finished talking Naruto leaned over and kissed Haku softly on the lips, making the girl blush before smiling like a love struck school girl.
"I have to go now Haku, I promise to come back soon."
She nodded, letting go of his hand. He started to walk to the door but was stopped by Mei. "Naruto, is it true you're in the finals for the Chunin Exams?"
Naruto nodded.
Mei smiled, looking at her soon to be family in the room. "Well, I suppose I can make an exception and go to that bastard village to cheer you on. What do you think dear?"
Zabuza smirked under his wrappings, nodding his head. "Yeah, I'd like to see what unlucky punk you'll pummel into the ground. And I am sure Haku will be more than willing to come and cheer you on."
Haku blushed, looking at Naruto and nodding. "Like I said, I will always stand by you. Though this time it would be more of cheering you on from the sideline."
Naruto let a warm smile be shown to the three in the room, nodding his head before he opened the door. "I guess I'll see you guys there then."
When he closed the door behind him, he shortly heard Zabuza yell out.
"What do you mean you spent the night with him?! NARUTOOOO!"
That was all the encouragement Naruto needed to Shadow Flicker, doing so in the nick of time as the blade of the demon's sword went through the door and would have impaled Naruto if he was still standing there.
~~Land of Lightning five days later~~
The night was late when Naruto decided to make camp, putting up his simple tent after he made his fire. He put two fish he had caught in the stream nearby onto some branches he found to use as skewers, sitting back and watching them cook over the fire as he enjoyed the peaceful night.
He had left Haku roughly five days ago, and not a single day went by that he didn't think about her. He sighed, turning the fish over to cook the other side as he relaxed. He was looking forward to his trip into the Village Hidden in the Clouds. However, he had no idea that those plans would be derailed.
As he pulled the fish out of the fire's heat he heard noises. He stood up, taking a bite out of one of the fish before looking towards the sounds disrupting the quiet night. He recognized the sound, years of warfare in Mist would do that to anyone. That sound was the symphony of battle. He took another bite of the fish before heading towards the battle, not realizing he left his trench coat and shirt at the campsite. Now heading there in only his pants and sandals.
It took him about five minutes to reach the site. He hid in the shadows, watching closely as he saw what looked like a woman fighting off two cloaked figures. That's when it clicked in Naruto's head, those cloaks had red clouds. The same cloaks the people that attacked his village wore. This time the two looked far more similar than the others. Each one had orange hair, be it done in a different way. They also had long, black rods and studs adorning their features, making them look like siblings in a sense.
The woman tried to back away, but one of the cloaked men raised his hand, saying something that Naruto could not understand, and pulled her towards him in some sort of invisible pressure. Naruto, having a bad feeling and the fact this was clearly an outmatched fight, acted quickly. He traveled to the cloaked man's shadow, jumping out of it to deliver a swift, powerful kick to the side of his head. The man was sent flying away, slamming into a cliff side while the girl dropped down onto the ground. Naruto turned to the other cloaked figure, preparing a similar attack but was stopped when he felt himself being pulled. He turned to see what was pulling him, the man he had kicked used the same jutsu on him. Acting quickly Naruto made the hand signs, activating one of his more useful jutsu.
"Shinigami Art: Null Void!"
Before he reached the man the black shadow enveloped the ground around them, letting Naruto fall onto the ground when it dispelled the ninjutsu. He got up quickly, looking to the man who now had his sibling standing at his side.
"You…I know you. You are the boy of Chikyugakure, are you not?"
Naruto smirked, crossing his arms as he kept up his confident persona. However, inside his body he was shaking. The man gave off some major bad vibes. "Yep, that's me! And you?"
The man looked down at the shadow, slowly walking into it and trying to activate his jutsu again, only to see nothing happen when he reached out. "Oh, I see. This Null Void of yours…it cancels ninjutsu within its field. Interesting indeed."
Naruto grit his teeth, hating the fact that the jutsu was always easy to figure out. Inwardly he was well aware of the situation. These two men before him were easily high jounin, if not sanin in their power. The girl, not behind him, was barely alive from whatever the two did to her. He needed to act quickly, but he knew that leaving the Null Void will only make things easier for the cloaked man. Silently Naruto was thinking, but had to buy time.
"You know, it's rude to ignore someone. Though I guess I was the rude one. My name is Naruto, what is yours?"
"Pain." The man replied in unison to his sibling.
Naruto raised his eyebrow, being a bit skeptical but also trying to keep him distracted as he thought. "Pain? What, are you one of those edgy people I hear about? Always brooding, no fun and no play"
If the man wasn't amused, he didn't show it. Instead he raised his hand, but turned it to the girl. Naruto cursed silently, moving to jump and get her which in turn canceled the field around him. As soon as it did, the second sibling went at him, this one seeming to try adn grab him. Naruto smirked, letting the man do so. He felt the man put him in a headlock, but the siblings didn't seem to understand that Naruto wanted this to happen.
Naruto, with all he could, pumped as much Death Chakra into himself. When he did, he felt the siblings pulling it into himself, which only made Naruto's plan that much easier. The sibling, Pain, looked over after he had the girl over his shoulder. He thought he had won, but the other Pain was rotting away, the body decaying into putrid rot before crumbling to the ground. Naruto walked out of the muck left behind, shaking the dead, rotted chunks of Pain off his bare shoulders. He looked to the last Pain, smirking.
"What did you do?"
Naruto shrugged, kicking the pile of rot with one foot. "Not many can handle Death Chakra, if you don't get an immunity to it, shit will rot you down to the bones. But since your brother here absorbed it, it literally rotted his flesh and bones. Sort of ironic."
He turned his head back to the other Pain, keeping a smile on his face. The one was dead, but there was still that sense of danger coming from the one in front of him. Maybe it was just that one all along he needed to be worried about. "Listen, I really don't have time for this. I feel that girl dying over your shoulder there, whatever you did before you beat the shit out of her is killing her slowly. So why don't you give her over, yeah?"
Pain kept his eyes on Naruto, looking him over. He sighed, tossing the body of the girl down onto the ground, as soon as the shadow formed under her before she hit the ground Naruto reached in, pulling her through and holding her bridal style in his arms.
"I do not need her anymore anyways, I already took what I needed from her. We were just tying a loosen end."
"We? Well, shame to say it's just you now."
"No, there is still us."
Naruto felt the presence behind him, and didn't hesitate to slip into his shadow, barely avoiding the four black robs that impaled the earth where he was standing. The Pain he was looking at was now accompanied by four others that shared the orange hair and matching piercings. Naruto chose not to reveal himself again, this time now traveling as far as he could from that group.
Pain looked down at where Naruto once stood, looking at the ground before the others took the rods out of the ground. "How peculiar…a method of traveling in the shadows without any trace or detection."
He looked to the others, nodding as they started to move out. Pain looked back towards the forest, thinking to himself. "Naruto. Hmm…I think I will keep my eye out for you."
~~Chikyugakure ten minutes later~~
Kin and Jin were laughing as they were baking some sweets in the kitchen, Rika on the table watching them bake while they talked. Jin was happy Naruto brought Kin to their home, it was getting lonely without her son around. She and the girl got along great, and the girl was more than happy to help Jin around the compound.
Kin smiled as she helped to start mixing the batter of the cake they were making. These last two weeks have been wonderful to her, a new life she was greatly enjoying. She still couldn't believe Naruto offered her a new home in Chikyugakure after they talked that night on the tower roof. She was scared he was going to kill her for eavesdropping, but when he told her he just wanted to talk she was relieved. They talked about her future, and what she wanted to do with her life. She told him she would have no choice but to live always looking over her shoulder, worrying that Orochimure or the Hidden Sound would act and kill her. To tie up a loose end. She cried to him that night about it, telling him her fears now that she was alone.
When she cried he held her, telling her that life wasn't over, and that she wasn't alone. He could tell she didn't want to go back to Hidden Sound, and he promised her, if she agreed to it, she would not have to worry about her life. All she had to do was agree to a new life in Chiktugakure, his village. And she agreed, without much of a hesitation. And that night she was brought to his home, to Jin his mother.
The two girls hit it off well, and over the weeks Kin started to grow a new appreciation for her new Kage. She heard the stories about Naruto growing up, most of his past, and much more. She even learned of his plans of starting his own clan, which made the girl blush at the thought. Though, maybe she could prove herself to him.
That was thought for later, for now the two just focused on their baking. However, that peace was quickly ended when something jumped out of Rika's shadow with a loud THUMP! The two turned around, now seeing a Naruto Shingami on the floor panting heavily and an unconscious girl on his lap. He looked at them with heavy eyes, waving for Jin to come to him.
"Mom…girl is going to die. Weird Pain guy did something to her, please…help her."
Jin looked to her son, then to the girl who had a very faint pulse. She nodded, picking the girl up and running her to the infirmary down the halls of the house they lived in. Kin went to Naruto, kneeling beside him as he was having trouble breathing.
"Naruto, what happened?!"
He looked at her, smirking as he looked at the hall his mom ran down. "I was at the wrong place at the…right time…" He groaned out, slowly closing his eyes as he felt fatigue taking over. He had to Shadow Flicker a immense distance at high speeds yet again, this time longer than before. His chakra was at zero, the Chakra Exhaustion killing him as he felt himself getting cold
He closed his eyes, a smile on his lips as he saw fear in Kin's eyes. This was a new one: Death by exhaustion.
